The Pursuit Of You
by myshippingdock
Summary: Modern AU University setting. Gray X Ultear.


Summary: Modern AU setting. Ultear Malkovich at Magnolia University. First Year Law Student. On a mission to seek them out, out of a morbid curiosity and seething need to disrupt his life and make it a miserable, living hell, [because he was the one her mother willingly died for, when she so easily abandoned her own flesh and blood infant daughter a long time ago]; if it was within her means to do so.

Outline: Bitter Coffee. Room-mates. Locked gazes. Fresh coffee.

Prologue: bitter coffee and fresh meetings

Ultear drank her coffee black and bitter.

She stopped adding milk and sugar to it a long time ago

She didn't really like it this way. But it fit her attitude and approach to life.

All cynical, embittered and disenchanted. Characters like that always had their coffee's black and bitter.

She had decided to adopt the practice.

She found it was easier to stomach her dark, unsavory coffee against the harsh backdrop of the vicious bleakness and cheerlessness of her life.

Or what it used to be once upon a time.

Meredy had been the one good thing in her life before, now there seemed to be a few more.

And it wasn't so bad with Meredy, Levy and Juvia there to liven it up for her now and then.

It had only been a couple of months since she and Meredy moved into Fairy Hill Dorms and began rooming with Levy and Juvia.

That and a couple of summer courses together and it hadn't taken them long to get better acquainted.

It was unusual for her, but it was nice.

It felt like she had made some friends. She hadn't allowed herself that luxury before.

Now away from her Grandfather and his evil whisperings….

Maybe she could achieve some sense of normalcy in her life.

She doubted it.

There was a shadow hanging over her life here and she meant to drag that shadow down to her level so she could gaze into it menacingly.

Maybe after that …..

She sipped the last dregs of her coffe, as she flipped to the next page, forcing herself not to wince, and focus on the material in front of her.

"Ahhh, That's it! I'm done," Juvia declared suddenly, smacking her textbook shut, and breaking Ultear's concentrated focus, "Juvia is going to go get another cup of coffee. Anybody else want one?"

Levy waved her off, fully immersed in her materials, her still full coffee cup barely touched.

"I'm good too, Juvia, but Ul looks like she needs another cup." Meredy cheerfully mentioned.

"I guess I do," Ultear sighed, handing Juvia her empty cup, "Thanks."

Looking between Levy and Ultear before Juvia made a bee-line for the coffee counter, Meredy sighed, "I know you two want to keep going, but I'm with Juvia. We should call it a night."

"Well, the two of you can take off after that coffee and slack away all you like, missy. Levy and Me will keep cramming like the straight 'A' students we are. For a half-hour or so. You should definitely leave if you can't handle it. "

She smiled evilly at them, dangling the temptation of 'A' under their noses.

Sure enough, Juvia slumped over the table.

"Maybe Juvia should stay and study after all, if she wants A's like you two…"

"Maybe you should." Levy agreed.

"It's not fair!. Why are the two of you so much smarter than the rest of the world!" Juvia lamented, wrinkling her nose at them, then got up slowly to get their coffees "black and bitter like always, right Ultear? For the life of me, Juvia cannot understand how Ultear can manage to gulp that terrible concoction down!"

"It's an acquired taste, Juvia. Also, while we", she gestured to herself and Levy, who was sitting opposite her next to the plated glass windows, "are naturally talented of course-"

"-we also work harder than the rest of the world put-together-", Levy finished smartly, picking up from where she left off without missing a beat.

"What she said." Ultear acquiesced smoothly.

"Yeah, Yeah, we get it, you over-achievers," Meredy stuck her tongue out playfully at them, "We're fine with our less impressive 'B's' and occasional 'A's'. Go get that coffee Juvia, so we can scram and have some fun without them."

"Alriiiiighty. Juvia really is done for the day. The thought of opening that thick book again right now…She'll pass," she said, starting towards the counter.

"…"

"So Ultear?" Meredy stated gleefully, breaking the playfully charged silence that permeated, "I don't mean to interrupt your studying with fun or anything, buuut, did you know there's a hot guy across the café sneaking glances at you? He's been doing that for the last half-hour or so, I think….?

"Ever since he walked in actually..," Levy unexpectedly supplied, "I saw him do a double take when he first saw you from outside the cafe. I was uber curious. At first, I couldn't tell if he was looking at you or Juvia since you're both sitting on the same side, but it's clear as day now…"

"Uh huh, I was unsure too.. but Juvia isn't here now and he's still staring intently at you…so… whatchya gonna do about it, Ul?" Meredy prompted ecstatically.

"Nothing." Ultear stressed, feeling flustered. She reached for her cup, and remembered she didn't have one. Juvia had gone to get her another one.

She had felt the distracting focus of his gaze on her for a while now and was using all her energy to ignore it and keep her cheeks from reddening against her will.

She was also considering staring playfully back at him on purpose for fun, but something held her back.

"I was hoping we could all pretend to be oblivious to it…" she said, as matter-of-factly as she could, knowing it was a hopeless hope as her comment earned her evil chuckles from her well-meaning friends.

"Relax, you won't have to worry about Juvia. She won't have to pretend. She really is quite oblivious to it, bless her", Merry said in a sing song voice, implying she only had to worry about them, which was worse.

"….."

She looked back at her friends with a non-committal, long-suffering, dead-pan expression, refusing to play along.

"…Oh come on, Ul! Don't be a drag"

"Yeah. This is too exciting to just let go."

"Besides, the guy is attractive as hell, Ul. You should give him a chance. The two of you would look sooo good together."

"I second that. And to make things even better, I _know_ the hot guy in question, and he's great! So if you'd like an introduction...you know who to ask, Ultear. Oooh, I'm so going to have a field day with this."

"Whoa, Levy! Really?! Sweet! It can't get any better than that Ul-"

"-woow, it looks like you don't need me, Ultear. He's heading this way on his own…" Levy interrupted, wide-eyed, looking back at them. "He's surprisingly bolder than I expected."

Ultear stood up abruptly, panicking. She gathered her books in a calm rush, "I've changed my mind. I believe I'm done for the night. I will leave now, and you two will wait for Juvia to-"

Splat.

Neither Gray nor Juvia had been paying attention to their surroundings as they headed towards the same destination, so it was a given that she would crash into him, fall on her bottom and drop her purchased coffee's while he looked down at her in bewilderment.

Gray apologized hastily, helping her up.

It dawned on him suddenly as she blushed impossibly red, probably in embarrassment?, that this girl had been sitting beside the girl who had momentarily stopped him in his tracks earlier.

He glanced back at the beautiful, arresting face that had jumped at him from outside the glass windows of the quaint little café, compelling him to enter.

He panicked. She looked like she was going to leave.

"I'm Gray! Tell your friends not to leave," he said abruptly to the girl who just blurted out that her name was Juvia Loxar, as he rushed to the counter. He looked back at Juvia on the way, and called out, "I'll buy you guys another round of coffee and a plate of cheesecakes to make up for knocking you out! So don't leave yet."

He thought about that face as he placed his orders with Mira Jane, the friendly, attractive hostess of 'Faerie Treats Café.

Did he know her from somwhere?

An unusual jolt of familiarity had coursed through him since he spotted her.

In between drinking his coffee and studying her, he realized after a while that she bore a very striking resemblance to Ul.

And the more he observed her unawares, the more he felt incredibly drawn to her. It wasn't just about her looking like Ul or the fact that she was exceptionally pretty either.

The girls sitting around her were very pretty too, put together in a different way, but pretty enough to catch any guy's eye nonetheless; and yet, they didn't incite the same response in him.

There was something about her – an air of remote sadness? a cold, casual detachment in her every movement? Or was it that he could almost feel the aliveness underneath all that vibrant stillness.

A vivid image of her curling up inside her perpetual, broken hourglass, adamant about stepping out because she was afraid she would impale herself on the broken bits scattered outside refused to go away.

There was that familiar stillness reflected in the dark spaces of her bottomless lilac-grey globes, a stillness he somehow felt he wanted to unravel...

He had an urge to see her escape her glass cage and come alive for him.

He didn't know why he sensed all these things about her or if there was any grain of truth in his observations, but he wanted to find out for himself.

He had been glad to note Levy sitting across from her.

If observing them from afar didn't satisfy him, he had thought he could use the fact that he knew her to go say hello so he wouldn't look like a suspicious stalker or something, when he tried to talk to her.

And he had got up to do just that when he bumped into Juvia. She gave him an even better excuse to approach them - a silver platter excuse - now loaded with 5 delicious pieces of cheesecakes and fresh, oversized coffee mugs, all on him. Not that he wouldn't have done it otherwise. He did feel bad about knocking her out in his inattention too.

And he found he was also nervous about going back there and finally talking to the source of his inattention.

,,,,,,,,,

Mira-Jane chuckled, having seen Juvia blush to the roots of Erza'a hair earlier and now, seeing Gray preoccupied and a tad bit nervous, she decided to tease him a bit.

"See something you like Gray?"

She had expected him to glance back at Juvia who had not yet reached her table, her movements slow and hazy in her love-struck daze.

Instead, he just snuck a glance at Ultear - the new bombshell around the block who just moved into Magnolia [and Faerie Hill Dorms] a few months back.

She was right now sitting at a corner table in her lovable Café, opposite Levy and Meredy, the other new arrival [also a hottie in her own right]. Speaking of Juvia, she was a hot new arrival too. She transferred to Magnolia a month or two before Ultear and Meredy.

Gray just had to be involved with the newbie girls in some way or the other, didn't he?

Mira-Jane recalled Gray having an embarrassing little crush on Erza once upon a time when she was new to Magnolia, though he seemed to have long since outgrown that.

"Maybe…" Gray blurted out without thinking, surprising her with the bluntness of his reply, his eyes still trained on Ultear.

"Here you Go!" she said cheerfully, handing him his tray, while winking at him, "It's a tall order Gray, but I wish it works out for you. Good luck getting chummy with the newbie girlsJ"

"Right.… Thanks, I guess." he said dryly, while blushing in embarrassment because she seemed to have seen right through him. Was he that transparent?

Mira-Jane thought complications were sure to arise in this little not so straight forward love chart that was in the making right now.

She really did hope things would work out for Gray. That poor boy needed to stop punishing himself. He deserved some happiness in his life even if he didn't think so. Well, at least, it looked like he was determined to make some definitive move this time around.

,,,,,,,,

Meanwhile, the girls groaned as Juvia walked back towards them in a glorious haze, plopping herself happily on her seat beside Ultear. She was steadily steaming puffed-up cloud 9's around her star-struck head, like a chimney on fire.

Ultear sighed uncomfortably, sitting gingerly back down as Levy and Meredy slumped over their pages of material on the big square coffee table, face down in consternation.

She was sitting right next to the glass windows with Juvia on her other side. She couldn't escape without bringing attention to herself even if she wanted to, afraid of the consequences of shaking Juvia from her love-struck stupor right then.

The last thing she wanted was to draw attention to herself in this situation.

Sweet naïve Juvia, as always, completely missed the tense, awkward mood surrounding her.

"This is going to get complicated, isn't it?" whispered Levy, turning her head sideways to look at Meredy, cheek pressed to her study material.

"Yup, no doubt about it. Our Juvia's ill-timed love meter has struck at an inopportune time…" Meredy whispered back, turning to look at her as well.

"Just go with my original plan and pretend to be oblivious about it all like I said," Ultear hissed softly, sounding indifferent to the new developments.

"I suppose we will have to, won't we, Meredy?"

"Sigh, for Juvia's sake. And since Ul doesn't seem to be interested anyway….maybe he'll change his mind and fall for Juvia instead."

Juvia suddenly woke up from her daze, hearts in her eyes, and said excitedly, not noticing their guilty starts, "f-f-fall for Juvia? No wayyy! Uhhhh G-guys, Guess what!?"

"What?!" Levy asked spiritedly, sitting up and pretending ignorance for Juvia's sake.

"Juvia finally talked to him3. The amazing guy Juvia said she was secretly stalking from afar for the past week or so? It's the same guy3! He's going to buy us coffee and cheesecakes to make up for knocking Juvia out! He is soooo nice3! Juvia was right to like him!"

'Whoaa? It's the same guy? Talk about an unfortunate coincidence." Meredy couldn't help exclaiming woefully at this unexpected detail, then added, trying to be helpful, "Atleast the guy isn't aware you've been stalking him yet., right?"

"Butbut Juvia thinks its fate3. To see a face from your past and feel a special connection to them.333 Juvia is soo happy now she could die!"

"Whoa, don't die on us missy. Not for some hot guy you've just met, well, technically, stalked, for the last week, I guess." Meredy chided playfully.

"Of course, I won't. But OH! I feel on cloud nine, Meredy! It feels like we're soo meant to be!"

"Do you like him that much?" Meredy asked fondly.

"Yeah, I really do…"

"Well, if Juvia likes him that much, then it can't be helped. We'll do our best to support you." Levy said sweetly.

Juvia turned endearingly red again, the blood rushing quickly to her cheeks making it ample clear to them just how much she fancied this guy. They really had to give up their earlier machinations and support Juvia now, didn't they?

Juvia suddenly snapped out of her daze and addressed Ultear, "Ohh, I'm so sorry I dropped your coffee, Ultear, but Juvia couldn't help it. She literally crashed into the boy of her dreams and Ohhh Juvia hopes she didn't make a lame first impression! All I did is blush uncontrollably before him and blurt out my name. "

"I-It's fine, Juvia. The coffee's no biggie." Ultear added encouragingly, feeling awkwardly caught up in Juvia's tide, "And you're adorable and cute when you blush like that anyway, so don't worry about that either."

This looked like the best time to get away.

"Anyway, I was thinking I should go-"

"Really? Do you think he thought I was cute?"

Juvia seemed to have only registered that part of their conversation.

"Uh, Yeah, definitely, anyw –"

"Butbut I didn't say much to him!"

Sigh.

"Its fine. Look at the bright side, You got to actually talk to the guy. And you can stop stalking him now." Ultear said tiredly, feeling mildly annoyed that her attempts to leave inconspicuously for her own sake were going ignored by Juvia.

"But but but..can I really?"

"Yes! This is your chance to befriend him now. Talking directly to him should be no problem for you after this. Be more confident." She said sternly.

"That's right, Juvia! Ul is right. You can build a relationship with him properly this way. It's very exciting, isn't it?

"Y-you're right! Juvia will do as you say. Thanks Ultear, Meredy."

"No problem. Chin-up now. Prince dashing is heading back with his tray of goodies now." Meredy soothed her.

"R-really, OK!"

Juvia sat up straighter, fighting the temptation to look back at gray, while the rest of them slumped a little lower in their seats, hoping this wouldn't end in heart ache for Juvia.

There was still a chance things could work out in Juvia's favor by the end, and they would try everything in their power to push developments in that direction since it seemed like Juvia cared too much while Ultear didn't care at all.

"Hey Levy! How's it goin?" he said casually, as he placed his tray on the edge of the table and grabbed a chair so he could ease himself on it, "Mind if I join you?"

"Sure. I saw you come in. Why did it take you so long to come say Hi?" she asked innocently, just to give him some grief.

"Didn't see you there, being so tiny and all," he teased her back, feeling uncomfortably like she knew exactly why he hadn't.

"Shut up, smartass." Levy said, while blushing. "Stop channeling Gajeel on purpose."

Juvia looked stunned, moving her eyes between them like a tennis ball, all flustered, "Ehh? You know each other already? That sounds suspicious. Juvia's romantic meter has activated."

Gray raised his eyebrows at her odd comment, unconsciously sweeping his gaze to Juvia's right, feeling self-conscious, while Levy laughed it off saying, "We're not like that, Juvia."

"What she said. Gajeel would probably have my ass if it was like that."

The comment made Levy blush adorably again, and stuff her mouth with cake to hide it, while Meredy chuckled.

"Oooh yeah. Juvia forgot about Gajeel-kun."

"Well, don't forget again, Juvi. Levy obviously has Gajeel to go gaga over. How about introducing this hunk here for us Levy? so Juvia can go gaga over him?" Meredy teased pointedly, elbowing Juvia and winking merrily at Gray at the same time, hoping to speed things up for her. "And I'm meredy, by the way."

Juvia blushed uncontrollably, looking very ripe for the taking.

Instead of taking the bait though, Gray just grinned awkwardly at Meredy and Juvia, acknowledging her introduction, and shot another quick glance at the elusive girl in the corner, not sure how to proceed, since the conversation had taken on an odd turn with the random teasing.

He pushed his tray of goodies forward, and said, "My peace-offering for knocking Juvia out earlier."

"OoooH. Thanks! Be careful, Gray, Juvia might fall head over heels for you if you act so nice." Levy did her own little prompting, taking Meredy's cue.

"L-levy!"

He was sure they were just kidding around with him, but he felt self-conscious anyway, especially since the girl he had in mind was completely ignoring his presence through it all.

She hadn't said a word, not even to thank him when she took her mug of coffee and cheesecake from the tray. She seemed to be deliberately ignoring her surroundings, as she leisurely sipped her fresh coffee.

The other girls were doing a good job trying to keep him distracted though. She would have to introduce herself sooner or later, right?

,,,,,,,,,,,

Ultear noted to herself that it was sweet as she drank it, but didn't say anything.

She had to remain as inconspicuous as she could right now. Besides, she found she liked this sweet taste and might as well enjoy it briefly for this one time without a complaint.

She popped another piece of blackcurrant cake into her mouth, licking the cream off her bottom lip self-consciously. She could still feel his gaze on her sometimes.

He cleared his throat, and said, "Hey Levy, introduce me- on second thoughts-

"sdrrygHesd Fray -", Levy said, with her mouthful.

"Don't bother, I'll do it myself. Sorry, I didn't get around to introducing myself. I'm Gray Fullbuster-"

Ultear and Meredy suddenly froze, their forks pausing midway to their mouths.

He held out his hand casually, unsure why the atmosphere seemed to have chilled towards him all of a sudden, atleast as far as Meredy, who had been quite warm and friendly to him previously.

Juvia took it in a daze. Meredy shook it rather reluctantly. Levy didn't have to.

And the girl in the corner who had all of his attention deliberately made no move to take it.

Instead, she abruptly stopped ignoring him and turned around to face him fully, dark beautiful, haunted orbs staring him down with fathomless, contained fury. He awkwardly dropped his hand, gazing back at her probingly.

She knew him. Or she knew of him.

"Come again?" she questioned silkily, a dark edge of resentment evident in her strong, clear voice,

Was it something he had said or done just now? Or did she know something about him from before since she reacted to his name?

"Gray Fullbuster," he repeated slowly, feeling nervous uneasiness clench his stomach as he locked gazes with her, wondering if she really wasn't related to Ul in some way after all. "Second year at Magnolia University, attending law school during the week, bumming around at weekends and working the community bar at nights...is something wrong?..." he rambled, trailing off uncertainly.

He finally had her attention, but it didn't look like the good kind.

She seemed to be seething internally, her gaze burning into him.

Juvia started, looking between them, the animosity radiating from Ultear confusing her, while Levy looked cautiously curious.

"Ultear?" Juvia inquired anxiously.

"Juvia?" Ultear stated coolly, going back to ignoring him "could you move out of the way, please? I need to leave."

"But-"

"Just Move Juvia", she demanded coldly.

"Juvia, just do it please," Meredy urged her quickly, looking seriously uncomfortable at the turn of events.

Juvia looked understandably perplexed at the sudden change in atmosphere, looking between all of them, unsure.

Levy gazed thoughtfully at Ultear and seemed to have made some deductions about the situation at hand, and nodded to Juvia reassuringly, who finally complied with Ultear's demand.

She had picked up her half-empty coffee mug while she waited for Juvia to comply, looking coldly in control of herself, but he could sense the underlying frustrations she was bottling up and he wanted to ask her why?

She barely knew his name and already the atmosphere between them was exploding with this horribly oppressive tension, and he needed to know more.

He grabbed her arm as she passed by him and opened his mouth to say something to her-

"Ultear Malkovich" she announced loud and clear.

And abruptly dumped the cold contents of her mug of coffee on him, slamming it on the edge of the coffee table in the space of a minute or two, leaving him stunned and wet, the cold dregs of her creamy white, no longer bitter coffee clinging to his shirt and face.

She impudently strode out of the café after dropping her little bombshell on him.

_She had the same last name._


End file.
